tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76046513834587621462017-01-24T16:28:17.470-08:00BORDERWALL AS ARCHITECTUREraelnoreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-75417546133081106432013-12-18T08:32:00.000-08:002013-12-18T08:33:08.058-08:00Banksy Chrismas Card<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjEqHgde-5k/UrHOOrGAzQI/AAAAAAAABoI/wCt12Xo-2a4/s1600/banksyx-mas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjEqHgde-5k/UrHOOrGAzQI/AAAAAAAABoI/wCt12Xo-2a4/s320/banksyx-mas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Joseph and Mary can't make it to Bethlehem.&nbsp;<a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/12/banksys-christmas-card-shows-joseph-and-mary-stopped-by-the-wall.html">More here.</a></div><br />raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-56672698193337157012011-04-10T09:54:00.000-07:002011-04-10T09:57:34.429-07:00Border Wall Alternatives<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="450" height="283" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dM_fOKv8QI0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Ronald Rael, assistant professor of architecture, discusses his designs for <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/?p=1081">alternatives uses for the wall between the United States and Mexico</a>.<br />4:10 min. video produced by Roxanne Makasdjian, UC Berkeley Media Relations<br />Full Story: <a href="http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/03/29/border-wall/">http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/03/29/border-wall/</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-6401072519570827772010-12-04T12:58:00.000-08:002010-12-04T12:58:48.329-08:00HBO: The FenceThe Fence is an HBO documentary that examines the controversial fence along the U.S./Mexico Border. <a href="http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-fence/index.html">See more here.</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-50553248513060715082010-08-22T07:05:00.000-07:002010-08-22T07:05:45.061-07:00The Iron(ic) FootbridgeOn each side of a towering West Texas stretch of the $2.4 billion border fence designed to block people from illegally entering the country, there are two metal footbridges, clear paths into the United States from Mexico. The footpaths that could easily guide illegal immigrants and smugglers across the Rio Grande without getting wet seem to be there because of what amounts to federal linguistics. While just about anyone would call them bridges, the U.S.-Mexico group that owns them calls them something else.<br /><br />"Technically speaking it's not a bridge, it's a grade control structure," said Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the International Boundary and Water Commission, which maintains the integrity of the 1,200-mile river border between the U.S. and Mexico. <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQAh0d_pW4mCfZg4wA6WDLiu4YlgD9HMNQ501">The structures under the spans help prevent the river — and therefore the international border — from shifting.</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-64512590329427315612010-03-26T20:31:00.000-07:002010-03-26T20:31:04.545-07:00The 800 Mile Wall<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rMWSYGpOwVY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rMWSYGpOwVY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.800milewall.org">The 800 Mile Wall</a> highlights the construction of the new border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the effect on migrants trying to cross into the U.S. This powerful 90-minute film is an unflinching look at a failed U.S. border strategy that many believe has caused the death of thousands of migrants and violates fundamental human rights.<br /><br />Since border walls have been built, well over 5,000 migrant bodies have been recovered in U.S. deserts, mountains and canals. Some unofficial reports put the death toll as high as 10,000 men, women and children. As a direct result of U.S. border policy, migrants are forced to cross treacherous deserts and mountains in search of low skill and low paying jobs in the United States. The New York Times writes, "Current border strategy is serving as a funnel through deadly terrain." The 800 Mile Wall documents, in great detail, the ineffective and deadly results of a failed border policy and offers some thoughts and on how the current human rights crisis may be resolved. Directed by John Carlos Frey and Produced by Jack Lorenz. Running Time: 90 min.raelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-34946594975103197092010-03-19T07:04:00.001-07:002010-03-19T07:07:21.513-07:00Ferry To The Other Side / Corner Of Latin America<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lpE3YxyNFz4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lpE3YxyNFz4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Margaret Randall reads Ferry To The Other Side / Corner Of Latin America from her book Stones Witness accompanied by Glenn Weyant on Nogales Border Wall, played with cello bow and implements of mass percussion.<br /><br />The collaboration was improvised live on 3/14/10 at the bifurcation scar of Nogales Arizona and Nogales Sonora.<br /><br />Video by Barbara Byers.<br /><br />For more about Margaret's work visit:<br /><a href="http://www.margaretrandall.org">http://www.margaretrandall.org</a><br /><br />For more about Glenn's work visit: <br /><a href="http://www.sonicanta.com/">http://www.sonicanta.com/</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-62991025718941279162010-03-17T08:49:00.000-07:002010-03-17T08:49:30.921-07:00Virtual U.S.-Mexico Border Fence At A Virtual EndThe Department of Homeland Security's plan to build a virtual fence across the U.S.-Mexico Border has come to a crashing halt just days before the release of a report expected to slam the system. <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124758593">Read more or listen at NPR.</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-41314142155269436212010-03-13T08:18:00.000-08:002010-03-13T08:18:35.189-08:00Illegal Border Crossing Park<script charset="utf-8" src="http://www.vbs.tv/vbs_player.js?width=480&amp;height=270&amp;ec=A2ZGc2MTro1eyFkBBsF5LjUs6-b5EK54&amp;st=The%20Vice%20Guide%20to%20Travel&amp;pl=http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel/illegal-border-crossing-park" type="text/javascript"></script><br /><br />The Mexican town of El Alberto lies 800 miles south of the US border in the state of Hidalgo. It’s pretty much like any other town of 3,000 people, except in El Alberto they offer tourists the chance to participate in a simulated illegal border crossing. It all happens at a standard recreational park with swimming pools, river trips, zip lines, and the other typical fare. We took a few cameras and headed for the EcoAlberto Park to spend some late-nights running through underground tunnels on the heels of our personal “Coyote” while being chased by border patrol. While we were there, we crashed a quinceñera party and saw El Alberto from the perspective of the locals. We find that when Mexicans cross the border to pursue the “American Dream,” their real aim is to bring a slice of the pie back home to Mexico. And so they do, provided they can run fast enough.raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-90332387802931633092010-01-30T22:03:00.000-08:002010-01-30T22:04:22.193-08:00Border Fence = Drug Deaths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.rightsidenews.com/images/stories/January2010/FENCE-AND-DRUG-WAR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://www.rightsidenews.com/images/stories/January2010/FENCE-AND-DRUG-WAR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />On January 9, 2009, American Border Patrol issued a press release entitled "Does the Border Fence Work?" In it, ABP announced a press conference to be held at the National Press Club on January 15 to, among other things, <a href="http://www.rightsidenews.com/201001288418/border-and-sovereignty/the-border-fence-and-the-mexican-drug-war.html">"show a strong correlation between the construction of the border fence and drug-related deaths in Mexico between 2005 and 2009."</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-76962026778361203722010-01-29T08:18:00.000-08:002010-01-29T08:18:51.861-08:00WPA 2.0 Border Wall as Infrastructure Presentations<object width="500" height="281"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8549290&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8549290&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="281"></embed></object><p>Presentation delivered at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. as a finalist in the WPA 2.0 competition sponsored by UCLA Citylab, wpa2.aud.ucla.edu<br /><br /><br /><br />"There exists far more potential in a construction project that is estimated to cost up to $1,325.75 per linear foot." Recognizing the high cost, limited effectiveness and unintended natural consequences of the new, multi-layered US/Mexico border wall (disruption of animal habitats, diversion of water runoff that has caused new flooding in nearby towns), this proposal names alternatives that might better combat the energy crisis, risk of death from dehydration, disruption of animal habitat, loss of vegetation, negative labor relations, missing creative vision and lack of cross-cultural appreciation likely in the government sponsored version.<br /><br /><br /><br />Project Credits: <br /><br /><br /><br />Rael San Fratello Architects: Ronald Rael,Virginia San Fratello, Emily Licht, Plamena Milusheva, Brian Grieb, Colleen Paz, Molly Reichert<br /><br /><br /><br />www.rael-sanfratello.com</p><br /><object width="500" height="281"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8548598&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8548598&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="500" height="281"></embed></object><p>Video presentation for exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. Finalist in the WPA 2.0 competition sponsored by UCLA Citylab, wpa2.aud.ucla.edu<br /><br />"There exists far more potential in a construction project that is estimated to cost up to $1,325.75 per linear foot." Recognizing the high cost, limited effectiveness and unintended natural consequences of the new, multi-layered US/Mexico border wall (disruption of animal habitats, diversion of water runoff that has caused new flooding in nearby towns), this proposal names alternatives that might better combat the energy crisis, risk of death from dehydration, disruption of animal habitat, loss of vegetation, negative labor relations, missing creative vision and lack of cross-cultural appreciation likely in the government sponsored version.<br /><br />Project Credits: <br /><br />Rael San Fratello Architects: Ronald Rael,Virginia San Fratello, Emily Licht, Plamena Milusheva, Brian Grieb, Colleen Paz, Molly Reichert<br /><br />Soundtrack: Glenn Weyant/The Anta Project: www.sonicanta.com<br /><br />Compiled from covert performances utilizing implements of mass percussion and a cello bow to play the steel wall, barbed wire fences and assorted ephemera that separates the United States from Mexico. <br /><br />www.rael-sanfratello.com</p>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-31175229867985586882010-01-21T08:37:00.000-08:002010-01-21T08:37:38.631-08:0060 Minutes on the Virtual FenceSteve Kroft of 60 Minutes reports on the virtual fence between the U.S. and Mexico. <a href="http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=LC1xECE_2_HJszeklCltTgU2rmxkHbyP&amp;&amp;nrd=1">Watch here</a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-81260947458853443232009-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:002009-12-31T09:12:11.259-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pg4BWOk1dwY/Sb2oYELtkhI/AAAAAAAABe4/wrSk8kTITN8/s1600/border%2Bfence%2Bcartoon.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 440px; height: 322px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pg4BWOk1dwY/Sb2oYELtkhI/AAAAAAAABe4/wrSk8kTITN8/s1600/border%2Bfence%2Bcartoon.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-49455632744413080022009-12-31T08:25:00.000-08:002009-12-31T09:10:17.911-08:00Border Wall = Immigrant Museum?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/SzzYlkUU7CI/AAAAAAAABZE/oR24jttLRQY/s1600-h/Picture+34.png"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/SzzYlkUU7CI/AAAAAAAABZE/oR24jttLRQY/s400/Picture+34.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421446191362927650" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/SzzYlkUU7CI/AAAAAAAABZE/oR24jttLRQY/s1600-h/Picture+34.png"></a><i>Pier-Museum by Mario Cottone and Gregorio Indelicato</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.arkitera.com/y996-miami-2009-urban-competition---pier-museum.html">Italian architects Mario Cottone and Gregorio Indelicato propose an immigrant "Pier-Museum" which, pointing out to sea, will stand as a "horizontal monument" to all the immigrants who have arrived on these shores in search of a better future.</a> The 100 meter long structure will point out to sea off Miami Beach and will house a museum in which the personal effects, souvenirs and photos belonging to the new generation of immigrants will be exhibited - those who came to the city of Miami from the 1950's to the 1980's in search of their own personal American Dream. To this end, this "Pier-Museum" is to function as an architectural landmark and serve as a space commemorating the new urban dynamic of the city,the global multiculturalism which defines the beginning of the 21st century. The design was the winning entry in a competition hosted by the <a href="http://arc.miami.edu/">University of Miami School of Architecture</a> and <a href="http://www.arquitectum.com/">Arquitectum</a>.<div><br /><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/3191119621_aca4f3e4bf.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div><div><br /></div><div><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px;" src="http://octopup.org/img/sw2006/m/SW2006-610-05311650--San-Diego--Border-Field-State-Park--Fence-on-Beach--Looking-into-Mexico--Tijuana--Border-Patrol-Jeep.jpg" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>Border Wall looking towards Tijuana, Mexico at Border Fields State Park</i></div><div><br />It is not clear if the Italian architects are aware of the western terminus of the border wall as it dives into the Pacific Ocean, a manifestation of, and symbolizing, the tensions that are directed at immigrants seeking a better future in the U.S. Is their proposal a political statement, irony or serendipity?</div></div></div>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-55771485463072416352009-12-19T08:44:00.000-08:002009-12-19T08:54:30.871-08:00Border Wall as Infrastructure<div>Border Wall as Infrastructure, a design proposal for re-imagining the border wall between the United States and Mexico, was designed by <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">Rael San Fratello Architects</a> and selected as a finalist in the <a href="http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu/info/index.php?/finalists/p1145-border-wall-as-infrastructure/">WPA 2.0 Competition</a>. Two examples can be seen below and <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/?p=19">more information on the project can be found here</a>.</div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/solarwall.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 590px; height: 443px;" src="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/solarwall.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/solarwall.jpg"></a><br /><br />The most untapped potential for solar development in the United States lies along the U.S./Mexico border. Solar farms, in turn, are highly secure installations. What if we were to reallocate some of the funds used simply to construct and maintain the border wall for the construction of energy infrastructure along the border? We would actually create scenarios in many instances that are more secure than the existing wall, and that simultaneously provide solar energy to the energy hungry cities of the southwest.<br /><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/solarwall.jpg"></a><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 590px; height: 392px;" src="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/border_library.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div><div><br /></div>The border wall can and should be envisioned as a linear urban park through certain urban geographies. When supplemented with green spaces, connected to schools, libraries and other parks, there is no reason not to think of the wall as the organizing condition for an urban park, offering pedestrian and bicycle routes through the city. The linear park, in turn, has the potential to increase adjacent property values and the quality of life on both sides of the border while providing an important green corridor through the city.</div>raelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-91039968484164896712009-12-18T18:03:00.000-08:002009-12-18T18:05:12.632-08:00Is This A Fence?<object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t5RPS_iTNiw&border=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t5RPS_iTNiw&border=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="425" height="349"></embed></object>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-67882664153500413812009-11-24T18:53:00.000-08:002009-11-25T00:41:01.013-08:00Borderless Border: Removing the US-Mexico boundary fence by reclaiming the Rio Grande<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica, serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 11.5px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/Swyd1JNTMHI/AAAAAAAABXw/wDVzv6AQv1E/s400/6-border-informal+circulation.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407870788895453298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></p></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Evidence of informal crossing along the border zone.</span></i></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Th</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">is is </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the b</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">order in the desert, west of El Paso </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ru</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">nning for 600 miles in the desert. In 1994, the U.S. G</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">o</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">vernment </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">p</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">lanned a meter high steel fence along a 1.5 mile section of the US–Mexico border line, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">near Anapra. To tighten </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">b</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">order security and stem the tide of new illegal immigrants. Since then</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, the number of crossings has ironically </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">i</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ncreased while the get-tough policy </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">of the U.S. government has created more risk for immigrants: Mexican workers </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">n</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ow have</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> to walk further to the edge of the fence to cross, placing them at risk of deadly sun exposure, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">snake </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">b</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ites and shoot-outs with U.S. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ran</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">chers on remote borderlands. This project re-</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">examines the 500-year paradoxical </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">r</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">elationship of North America by drawing from the Ciudad Juàrez - El Paso “twin city”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> model along the border </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">r</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">egion. The strategy examines the effects of removing </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">border infrastructure while forwarding a reclamation strategy </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">fo</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">r </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the Ri</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">o G</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ra</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">nde</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and the Rio Bravo, a multi-stage watershed shared by the Province of Chihuahua and the St</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ate. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica, serif;"><span style="color:#4e2188;"><a href="http://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/node/708"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Borderless Border</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: Removing the US-Mexico boundary fence by reclaiming the Rio Grande is a project by landscape architect </span><a href="http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/people/faculty/belanger/index.html"><span style="color:#4e2188;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Pierre Bélanger.</span></span></a></span></span><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Helvetica"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/Swyd1j_SLRI/AAAAAAAABX4/IRADgeE5zFE/s1600/7-border+infrastructure.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rw4tJhRcfF0/Swyd1j_SLRI/AAAAAAAABX4/IRADgeE5zFE/s400/7-border+infrastructure.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407870796084423954" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px; " /></span></span></a></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Helvetica"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Border infrastructure along the Rio Grande and the industrial zones that serve North America.</span></span></i></p><p></p></div>raelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-62405602220975464972009-11-20T17:37:00.000-08:002009-11-25T00:42:20.394-08:00Border Fence Requirement Is Removed<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 22px; "><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/politics/11fence.html?_r=2&amp;adxnnl=1&amp;adxnnlx=1258766890-CLjSwY+QuKXH29fEv0wqfA"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Congress has stripped a provision from a Department of Homeland Security appropriation bill that would have required 300 more miles of tall fencing along the Mexican border</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, saying the money needed to build the barrier would be better spent on alternative security measures.</span></span>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-68810138617763190882009-11-13T19:18:00.000-08:002009-11-25T00:42:04.711-08:00Walley Ball<object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hXyijizUsJ4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hXyijizUsJ4&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br /><br />On the San Diego-Tijuana border, Brent Hoff and Josh Bearman initiate an impromptu volleyball game with two formidable opponents: Jerry and Eric. Playing over the dividing pylons between the two nations, the Americans ponder the implications of their game on U.S. Customs law.raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-33598634648665380862009-10-24T21:19:00.000-07:002009-11-25T00:41:43.606-08:00The Border Fence - Where it is and How It Works<object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KdvnWmgySrE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KdvnWmgySrE&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-44039743297759171942009-09-22T19:52:00.001-07:002009-09-22T19:54:28.101-07:00Border Fence Co. Serving El Paso for 30 Years<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://c66.yellowpages.com/displaygif/sbc/06/1069606.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://c66.yellowpages.com/displaygif/sbc/06/1069606.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>raelnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-73396589746046090222009-09-09T04:17:00.000-07:002009-09-10T07:29:37.805-07:00Border Wall as Infrastructure<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu/info/files/gimgs/35_p1145-4.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu/info/files/gimgs/35_p1145-4.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;">cityLAB, an urban think-tank at UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design, has announced the six finalists of its <a href="http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu/info/index.php?/finalists/p1145-border-wall-as-infrastructure/">WPA 2.0 competition</a>. The competition, which stands for working public architecture, invited designers of all stripes to submit proposals for rebuilding our cities’ infrastructure as a sort of throwback to the Great Depression-era WPA. Juried by Stan Allen, Cecil Balmond, Elizabeth Diller, Walter Hood, Thom Mayne, and Marilyn Jordan Taylor, the top-six picks run the gamut from heading off an impending water crisis to creating a softer, gentler version of our infrastructure. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;">Border Wall as Infrastructure, submitted by <a href="http://www.rael-sanfratello.com/">Rael San Fratello Architects</a>, investigates unplumbed potentials for the Mexico-U.S. border fence. "There exists far more potential in a construction project that is estimated to cost up to $1,325.75 per linear foot." Recognizing the high cost, limited effectiveness and unintended natural consequences of the new, multi-layered US/Mexico border wall (disruption of animal habitats, diversion of water runoff that has caused new flooding in nearby towns), this proposal names 30 alternatives (covering nearly the whole of the Mexican alphabet, literally from Aqueduct wall to Zen wall) that might better combat the energy crisis, risk of death from dehydration, disruption of animal habitat, loss of vegetation, negative labor relations, missing creative vision and lack of cross-cultural appreciation likely in the government sponsored version. Read more at <a href="http://wpa2.aud.ucla.edu/info/index.php?/finalists/p1145-border-wall-as-infrastructure/">WPA 2.0</a> | <a href="http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/4368">Architects Newspaper</a> | <a href="http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2009/09/04/wpa_20_border_seesaws_and_a_thousand_sf_street_parks.php">Curbed</a> | <a href="http://www.worldlandscapearchitect.com/wpa-2-0-finalists-announced/">World Landscape Architect</a></span></div>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-48081232495723545032009-09-03T11:46:00.000-07:002009-11-25T00:52:15.449-08:00Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Border Walls<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">"</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a nation has at all times maintained opposition --clear, definite opposition-- to any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of civilization went past. Today, thinking of our children and of their children, we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the Americas."</span></span></b></blockquote><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> — </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">FDR, speech on "</span><a href="http://www.hbci.com/~tgort/fdr.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">The Four Freedoms</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">," Jan 6, 1941</span></span></span></b></span>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-60553413018532526952009-09-03T07:00:00.000-07:002009-09-03T07:10:44.194-07:00Selling The Border Wall<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They have heard of people tunneling under it, scaling it and, on the Mexican side, defacing it. But it is not often, law enforcement authorities say, that people try to rip apart the border fence to sell it. </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/us/28fence.html?_r=1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That appears to be the motive that led to the arrest this week in Tijuana, Mexico, of six people who, the authorities there say, were caught shearing off chunks of the metal plate fence to sell as scrap.</span></a></span>raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-30944233806122038862009-08-06T13:46:00.001-07:002009-11-25T00:41:55.018-08:00Saving the Sabal Palm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://voices.mysanantonio.com/claycarrington/assets_c/2009/06/sabal%20transplant-thumb-1024x685-723.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://voices.mysanantonio.com/claycarrington/assets_c/2009/06/sabal%20transplant-thumb-1024x685-723.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Once found across much of the lower Gulf Coast, sabal palm forests have all but vanished under the plow. While some scattered trees can be found on private lands in the region, the significant remaining stands of these towering trees are located at Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve, the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and the Lower Rio Grand Valley National Wildlife Refuge.<br />All three of those conservation areas lie in the path of the border fence<br /><br /><object width="400" height="270"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5084764&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5084764&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="270"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/5084764">Palms B-Roll Preview</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user821254"></a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><br />In order to save sabal palms that would otherwise be leveled by construction of the fence, the Conservancy is partnering with t<a href="http://voices.mysanantonio.com/claycarrington/">he U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and Audubon Texas in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to transplant palms to safe ground, one tree at a time</a>.raelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7604651383458762146.post-23193636602105232362009-08-05T15:11:00.000-07:002009-08-05T15:14:31.397-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://skiramen.googlepages.com/BottomlessPit027.jpg/BottomlessPit027-full;init:.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://skiramen.googlepages.com/BottomlessPit027.jpg/BottomlessPit027-full;init:.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>raelnoreply@blogger.com0